Outlook: Plans A, B and C went by the boards last summer, so this is about Plan D. With $14 million in cap room, the champions went after Jason Kidd and Karl Malone, who spurned them. The real hope is their young guards, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. Both are talented and brash; if they keep coming, this will still be a powerhouse.

Prediction: If this group doesn't work, they can drop Mercer, Turkoglu and/or Horry, whose contracts are expiring, and go shopping again.

Outlook: Talk about being overdue for a break. The team that endured Christian Laettner and J.R. Rider, was abandoned by Stephon Marbury, made an example of by commissioner David Stern and then, after never having home-court advantage, clinched it just in time to host the Lakers, finally saw something go right. They've put together talent, but it's a volatile mix.

Prediction: Coach Flip Saunders has to get them to play together, but the key is leadership on the floor. With Garnett there, this should happen.

Outlook: Our semi-civilized neighbors to the north won 59 games with Mike Bibby sitting out 27, Bobby Jackson 23, Webber 15 and Peja Stojakovic 10, suggesting the uncrowned Kings may have been the best team in the league. Then they lost Webber for good after taking the home-court advantage from the Mavericks in the second round, and it was just one more in the Kings' long series of hard-luck stories. Webber, coming off knee surgery, may not be back before Christmas.

Outlook: No one ever saw a starting lineup this devastating -- on paper -- and no one ever may, after an exhibition season in which everything came apart at the seams. As far as basketball goes, they're bigger and deeper with four likely Hall of Famers in their starting lineup. Shaquille O'Neal is in playing shape for the opener, for a change. Of course, their chemistry, with O'Neal and Kobe Bryant feuding openly on the eve of the season, is something else.

Prediction: Not to be an alarmist about this, but the Lakers as you knew them are over.

5. Dallas Mavericks

2002-03: 60-22, No. 2 seed. Lost to San Antonio in Western Conference finals.

Outlook: Mark Cuban's first big move upon taking over in 2000 was to sign Dennis Rodman. Rodman proceeded to blow up what had been a promising drive to make the playoffs. This off-season represents the Mavericks' worst moment since. Spurned by Karl Malone and Alonzo Mourning, they decided to forget about big men and take anyone they could get, such as Jamison, a 'tweener, and Walker, a knucklehead.

Prediction: Let's see how Cuban handles their descent. Prediction: Not well.

Outlook: After their misadventures when they tried to rebuild around Jason Kidd, Penny Hardaway and Tom Gugliotta, and their pratfall after they traded Kidd and fell from 51 wins to 36, the Suns pulled a rabbit named Amare Stoudemire out of the hat last season and rediscovered their future. Stoudemire, 20, Marion, 25, and Stephon Marbury, 26' make a promising young nucleus. Jake Voskuhl gives them a solid center, but in the West, that's not good enough. Still focused on their future, they drafted talented foreign players in Cabarkapa and Barbosa.

Outlook: Meet the new, nice Jail, er Trail Blazers. After the usual arrests and a $100 million loss that may be the biggest in sports history, owner Paul Allen, who seemed to pick up basketball more slowly than he did software, decided it was finally time for a shakeup. In came a new regime dedicated to citizenship, after which Rasheed Wallace, Qyntel Woods and Zach Randolph, who may not have gotten the memo, were all arrested anew.

Prediction: The big question is what will happen when Wallace becomes a free agent next summer.

Outlook: Tomjanovich wasn't much with X's and O's, but he built and coached the Rockets to back-to-back titles in 1994 and '95, and was coming off a bout with cancer, besides, leading everyone to believe he would get one more season. Surprise! Owner Les Alexander, who had told the world this was the next dynasty, kicked him out the door instead and hired Van Gundy. This was unseemly but an upgrade. The 7-foot-6 Yao Ming was a revelation as a rookie.

Prediction: Elite status is a ways off, but Van Gundy will, at least, get the Rockets back in contention.

Outlook: Haven't we seen this before? Oh yeah, annually. Of their eight free agents, six fled and the other two (Elton Brand, Corey Maggette) signed offer sheets with other teams but had to return when the Clippers matched. Dunleavy will use 10 players and press. Too bad he wasn't here when they had more of it.

Prediction: With a new sense of direction and a lot of pent-up competitiveness after last season's nightmare, they could be a surprise.

Outlook: Starbucks magnate Howard Schultz was hoping to sign Jason Kidd with the money he got by letting Gary Payton go. Instead, he traded Payton for Ray Allen, who's making $13.5 million this season, and there went the rebuilding project. They had two lottery picks, but that didn't go so well, either. Their first, Nick Collison, turned out to have a shoulder injury and is out for the season. Their second, Luke Ridnour, missed most of exhibition play because of a stomach injury.

Prediction: They have a nice collection of shooting guards and small forwards, but that won't cut it.

Outlook: At 0-8 in his debut in Memphis, Jerry West shocked everyone by bringing in Brown, 70, who had been a TV commentator for 16 years. Brown put them through an old-school indoctrination while they fell to 0-13, then finished 28-41, breaking the franchise record for victories by five. What do they do for an encore? That's going to be a problem because although there's talent (Pau Gasol, Mike Miller, a reformed Jason Williams), this is still a young, small team.

Prediction: While Mr. Clutch thinks up his next move, they may be able to beat their best finish, No. 12 in the West.

Outlook: No one rebuilds like the Warriors, or as often. After a whirlwind first season under Musselman in which they actually made a run at the playoffs, they lost Arenas, Boykins and traded Jamison for Van Exel, who doesn't want to be there. They insist they won't move Van Exel but may not realize how much trouble an unhappy Van Exel can be.

Prediction: They're kind of like Clippers North. There's nothing wrong that a new owner wouldn't take care of.

Outlook: With the second-worst record, they drew the No. 3 pick but at this point, their rookie, Anthony, is way ahead of the No. 1 and 2 selections, LeBron James and Darko Milicic. Anthony led the Nuggets at 19 points a game in exhibition play, shot 50 percent and made three-pointers, too. They have more young prospects who are coming too, such as Nene Hilario (who now wants to be called just Nene) and Nikoloz Tskitishvili, but they have a long way to go. With $18 million in cap space, it wasn't quite the off-season of their dreams.

Prediction: On the bright side, they'll have another high pick next June, too.

Outlook: After years of wondering when Malone and Stockton would go, it actually happened. Of course, if the Jazz knew rebuilding would be this hard, they might still be there. With $21 million of cap space, the Jazz had one little problem: getting anyone to take any of it. Now it's Matt Harpring, Andre Kirilenko and even more humble role players. Things are so bad, Greg Ostertag volunteered to be the new team leader, noting, "It's kind of all on me." Showing how impressed he was, Sloan is keeping Ostertag on the bench, backing up Jarron Collins.